Operatiivkunst

Operatiivkunst (operational art) is a field within military theory that concerns planning and conducting campaigns and major operations to achieve strategic objectives. It sits between strategy (the ends, ways, and means) and tactics (the battles and engagements at the field level). The aim of operatiivkunst is to design and execute an overall campaign that aligns political goals with the deployment of military power, synchronizing actions across spaces, services, and time.

At the operational level, key tasks include defining the operational objective, selecting lines of operation and decisive points, shaping the tempo and rhythm of operations, conducting campaign logistics, and integrating intelligence, surveillance, and deception. It emphasizes the design of campaigns, the orchestration of forces, and the gradual buildup or reduction of pressure to compel the adversary while maintaining strategic leverage. Command and control, information flows, and interoperability among armed forces are essential, as are civilian-military coordination and political constraints.

The concept matured in 20th-century military thought and is used in many armed forces and international operations, including NATO doctrines. The term operatiivkunst is used in several languages (for example Estonian) to denote this level of war, though exact definitions vary.

In modern conflicts, operational art increasingly includes non-traditional domains such as cyber and information operations, space, and logistics resilience. It remains a discipline that requires flexible adaptation to political objectives and a dynamic security environment, avoiding rigid planning while maintaining decisive intent and coherence across all elements of power.